St Catherine of Siena was born into a strong and determined family. It was reflected in her own radical desire to follow God’s way for her, her uncompromising commitment to prayer and fasting, and her persistence in winning others to do God’s will.
Her father was a trader, one of the leading families responsible for ruling the town of Siena. The family home, still standing, is impressive even by today’s standards. Catherine’s mother was a poet, and was evidently strong both in body and will. Catherine was the 23rd of the 25 children that her mother bore.
In her early childhood Catherine dedicated herself to God. When her older sister died while engaged in an advantageous alliance, Catherine’s parents put pressure on her to marry her sister’s fiancé. It is easy to sympathise with them. At a time when women’s future usually depended on finding a reliable husband, the challenge to settle so many children for life through marriage was surely formidable. Catherine, however, responded by a stratagem her mother had used when protesting against her husband’s roughness. She went on a fast and cut her hair to signify her commitment to God.
She also turned her back on the preferred alternative to marriage – a sheltered life in a contemplative community. She joined a group of lay women who followed St Dominic’s rule and gave herself to solitary prayer. A line attributed to her in her teens shows her intensity of purpose: ‘Build a cell inside your mind from which you can never flee.’
She modelled her spirituality on that of St Dominic, and joined a group of lay women associated with his spirituality. Three years later she joined others in serving the ill and the poor, refusing to accept the cultural alternatives of marrying or being enclosed in a convent. A Dominican was her spiritual adviser through her life. The women gave themselves to the poor, going to visit and to help with food.
In 1367 she went out into the public world and took an active part in church affairs. The Pope at the time lived in Avignon. He was strongly influenced by the King of France whose palace was nearby, much to the resentment of people in Rome. Catherine pressed him to return to Rome, corresponding with him and with church and social leaders in Italy and France. Most of her letters were dictated. She learned to write only in 1377.
Her last years were both busy and tumultuous. She eventually helped Pope Gregory XI to return from Avignon to Rome. He sent her on embassies to resolve conflicts in Florence and other city states, one of which ended with an attempt on her life. After Gregory died and Pope Urban X was chosen in preference to a Bishop from Avignon, Bishops unhappy with the vote called a Council that deposed Urban in favour of the Avignon candidate. When Urban continued to claim the Papacy Catherine spent much time and energy rallying support for him.
Her activity, shown in the many lively letters that she wrote, did not distract her from her deep commitment to prayer and to a penitential life. In her later years, too, she wrote significant books, one recording visions of God giving instruction in the Christian life and the other a more direct instruction on faith. She died from malnutrition at the age of 33.
St Catherine of Siena
25 March 1347-29 April 1380
Feast day: 29 April
Patron: Against fire, bodily ills, nurses, sick people, miscarriages
Image: Catherine of Siena by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo – WikiCommons.